Limeade Blast Ultra-High Capacity Battery Pack

The beauty of Limeade Blast stems from the suckage of smartphones and tablets. Both that they suck up battery power like a 12-pound newborn on a teat, and that this inadequacy of smartphone and tablet batteries really sucks. Those I know who own such devices seem nothing but eternally tethered to charge cords and electrical outlets. It makes me wonder what the statistics on electrocution have done since their inception. Because I am very skeptical, based on the number of people I see drunk, freaking out about low batteries, and plugging in their phones at parties and bars, that we are exercising the safe plug-in practices we learned as children.

Uh, I wouldn't use that power strip. I just spilled my rum & Coke on it.

I don't care! I barely have one bar left and, like, 8 Instagrams to upload!

Limeade Blasts are portable external battery packs with built-in 5V/2A input speed charges. The premier model, an 18000mAh capacity unit called the L180X, has enough juice to charge an iPhone 5 a dozen times without having to recharge the Limeade itself. Further, at only 13 ounces and 4.5" x 3.1" x .9", it circumvents the weight and bulk formerly integral to super-high capacity battery packs.

Limeade Blast's L180X claims to be an industry first, featuring 2A instead of 1A inputs. The design allows for charging the unit in as little as 11 hours. Not bad considering how much output users will get on one complete charge, and that the pack will retain its charge for up to a year.

Limeade has also developed 2 additional Blast sizes, the L130X (13000mAh) and the L156X (15600mAh). To determine how many times each external battery will charge your phone or tablet, divide its mAh by your device's mAh. No, don't reach for your calculator. Use a pen and paper. If you have time to read this far, you have time to do some long division by hand.

The Limeade Blast Kickstarter campaign runs through May 31, 2013. Sizes range in price from $49 to $99.